Process of manufacturing white sugar



Patented Feb. 1927.

UNITED. STATES 1,615,846 "PATENT OFFICE.

WILLiAM r. a. Muaam, or nnnsnnv, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF UFACT'UBING WHITE SUGAR.

No Drawing. Application filed. December This invention relates-generally, to improvennants in the process of manufacturing white sugar direct from raw cane juices, or from sugar s rups. y

The invention has for its principal objects to provide a sim 1e and direct process or method of manu acturing white sugar di rect from raw'cane juices, without necessity of first boiling and reducing the 'juices to raw sugar; to provide a novel process whereby the undesired formation of caramel and iron color compounds and invert sugar is reduced to a minimum, and, consequently, whereby a maximum quantity of high grade crystallizable sugar is obtained; and, finally,

to. provide a'novel process which entails a considerable savin of time, labor andapparatus, and whic by reasonofits simplicity and directness, is available for use in local plantation factories or mills.

I have discovered that if care is taken to obtain a thorough defecation of rawcane juices to thereby" produce aclear or brilliant liquor, such thoroughly defecatedraw juice may be filtered over bone black,-animal carbon or any carbonaceous material with a mineral structure whereby both organic and inorganic soluble impurities "are' removed therefrom, with theresult that the purified juice is thereupon in "a most satisfactory condition for boiling in vacuum pans to produce the granulated White sugar desired:

My invention, therefore, consists, mainly, in the combination With'a series of process steps whereby a thorough defecationof the I juice-is attained, of a final clarification step consisting in runnin the thorou hl'y defecated juice through one black ters prior tofinal boiling theredf in vacuum pans. .In detail my novel process is carried out as follows -The raw cane juice from the crushing mills is first passed over screens of suitable mesh to mechanically separate therefrom the next step is tofllime the juice, that is, to add particles of cane fiber, bagacillio, etch, whereupon the juice is then pumped through a juice heater to raise its-temperature to 160 degreesF. or more. This preliminary heating of the juice coagulates the. major portion of the albumins and colloidal silica for subsequent removal in' the settlingtank; i The a sufiicient quantit'y oflime thereto to precipitate or separate "fnuch of the organic impurities contained'in the juice. The limed f juice, with its precipitated organic impuri- 1, 1.924. Serial No. 753,026.

ties, is run into a suitable settling tank, e. g. such as a Dorr clarifier. In the settling tank, the precipitates settle out of the juice, so that the partially clear juice may ;be drawncofl, while the mud is run off into a mud tank, after which it may be pressed to express any remaining juice contained therein, such recovered juice being preferably sent back to the liming tank, while the resultantmild cake may be utilized as a fertilizer. The juice decanted from the settling tank or Dorr clarifier is conveyed to tanks tted with heating coils and agitating means, commonly lreferred to as blow-up tanks. When the juice is delivered to said blow-up tanks, there is added thereto a suitable precipitant, such as a phosphate, and which is adapted to precipitate the lime and iron compounds present in the juice; The phosphate or like precipitant being thoroughly distributed throughout the juice by the agitation which the latter undergoes in the blow-up tanks, the phosphate or like precipitant treated juice is thereupon de-i livered into a second settlin'g tank, e. g. such as a Dorr clarifier.v While in this second settling tank; the lime and iron compounds 9 in the phosphate or like recipitant' treated juice are precipitated and settled out of the juice, the mud being treated as heretofore mentioned, and the thus further cleared juice being-decanted for further treatment.

- paper pulp or similar mechanical filtering 3 material is added thereto preparatory to passing the concentrated juice through a suitable filter press. I have found that a Vallez rotary press (described in United States Letters Patent- No. 1,227,982, and No. 1,227,983, both dated May 29, 1917), serves admirably as the filter press medium, through which the juice is finally passed to produce the final thoroughly defecated or clear brilliant condition desired and neces sary before submitting the juice to the bone blackxfiltration step of my novel process.

the'bone blacklfiltration step, areada (ted to 'thoroughly defecate the rawjuice an thereore produce {a clear brilliant 1i uorl At The above steps whichare preliminary to this point, however, thevirgin raw uice still contains a certain amount of both soluble organic and some inorganic matter in the nature of coloring compounds and molasses forming impurities. It is highly desirable to remove as far as possible such impurities, to prevent thereby the formation of caramel compounds and invert sugar. I have found that by filtering the clear brilliant and thoroughly defecated juice over. a carbonaceous material, such as bone black, animal char, etc., substantially all the soluble organic and the inorganic matter making up the coloring compounds and molasses forming impurities are removed, leavlng a comparative y pure substantially colorless ]111Ce containing a maximum quantity of crystallizable sugar,

which ma be at once boiled in vacuum pans to cry'sta lize the same into a high grade white sugar.

28. Banm.

The advantages of my direct process, as

:above set forth in detail, over the ordinary method of first reducing the raw juice, by

boiling, to raw sugar, and then refining the raw sugar, are that, during the process of boiling the raw juice for raw sugar, :1 large amount of caramel forming and 'iron color compounds are created which are exceedingly difiicult to remove by char or similar filtration methods; and, if the coloring compounds are not removed, then a greater amount of boiling of sugar is necessary so that the coloring compounds may be washed from the sugar, whereas under my novel process, the boiling of the virgin raw juice, with the consequent evil effects, is eliminated, and an efficiently purified raw juice is obtained, which is freefrom caramel forming compounds, color and destroying sugar, and which contains a maximum quantity of crystalliz'able sugar. H Having thus described my invention, I claim I 1., The process of refining virgin or raw sugar juices, .which comprises liming such juices to precipitate organic impurities, separating said precipitated organic impurities to partially clear the juices, then filter pressing the partially cleared'juices with a suit able filter aid, and finally filterng the resultant clear juices over bone black to remove soluble impurities.

, through a suitable filter press,

2. The process of refining virgin or ,raw

sugar juices, which comprises liming such.

juices to precipitate organicimpurities, settling the precipitated impuritiesand decanting the partially cleared juices, adding a suitable precipitant to the decanted juice to precipitate thelime and iron compounds, again settling the precipitates and decanting the further cleared juices, then filtering the resultant juices through a suitable filter press, finally clarifying the juices by filtering over bone black to remove soluble organic and inorganic matter, and then crystallizing the clarlfied juices in vacuum pans. f

3. The process of refining virgin or raw sugar juices which ctjmprises strainin the juices, then heating the same to partial y remove albumins and colloidal silica, then liming the juices to precipitate organic impurities, settling out the precipitate, then treat-- ing the juices with a phosphate'precipitant to precipitate the lime and iron compounds, again settling out the precipitate, then adding a paper pulp to the juices and filterin the same-through a suitable filter press, fina ly clarifying the juices by filtering over bone black to remove soluble' organic and inorganic matter, and then crystallizing the clarified juices in vacuum pans. 4. The process of refining virgm or-raw juices, then heating the sameto partial y remove albumins and colloidal silica, then liming thejuices to precipitate organic impurities, settling out the precipitate, then treating the juices with a phosphate precipitant to precipitate the lime and iron compounds,

again settling out the precipitate, then conpentrating the juices, then adding paper pulp to the juices and filtering1 tying the juices by filtering over bone black to remove soluble organlc and inorganic matter, and thencrystallizingthe clarified juices in .vacuum pans.

.. 5. The process of refining virginor raw sugar juices, which comprises liming such juices to precipitate organic impurities, settling the precipitated impurities and decanting the clear juices, addinga suitablepreci itantto the decanted juices to precipitate e lime and iron compounds, again settling the precipitates and decanting the. clear juices,

then concentrating the juices, then filterin the same through a suitable filter press an finally clarifying the juices by filtering over a carbonaceous material to remove solubleorganic and inorganic matter prior to crystallizing the juices in vacuum pans.

' sugar juices, which consists in strainin the the same '7 ally clariilo , In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of November, 1924.

WILLIAM R. MURRIE. 

